Legacy
by TheLadyoftheStars
Summary: How Robin and Batman first met.


**A/N: Hi guys! This is my first time writing for Young Justice. I hope you enjoy! **

Legacy

I watched as they fell, the screams of the bystanders resounding throughout the arena. Inwardly I flinched as the two people collided into the pavement, knowing instantly that they were dead. Suddenly, flames erupted all around, causing the crowd to flee the scene, trying to escape the flames that threatened them. My eyes quickly swept the area in an attempt to find the source of chaos. After several moments of scanning, several figures emerged amongst the stampede of people. Their faces were all too familiar to me, and I knew at once that I had found the culprits. I ran after them, weaving in and out of people in hopes of catching up with them. I had almost caught up with the killers when something caught my eye.

He was young, no older than ten. I recognized him from earlier in the night, and knew exactly why he remained where he stood. The other people were too concerned for their own lives to notice him fall to his knees, his shoulders shaking slightly as he stared at the bodies in front of him.

A cracking sound reached my ears. Looking upwards, I noticed one of the beams that held up the big tent was slowly breaking. With a powerful snap, the beam began to rapidly fall toward the boy.

Reflexively, I sprinted to the boy. Unceremoniously, I hoisted him over my shoulder and moved out of harm's way right as the beam smashed into the ground. With the boy, I continued to run out of the tent. As we made our way out of the tent, I realized that I had lost sight of the fugitives. I tried to find them again, but the overcast night barred me from seeing.

I didn't have much time to rue the loss, for a pounding on my back distracted me.

"You have to let me go!" the kid cried as he continued to thump my back. "I have to go back!"

I kneeled, setting the kid on the ground. Before he could run away, I firmly grabbed his shoulders. "You won't find what you're looking for, kid."

He began to squirm, his resolve cracking with each second. "I have to back! My parents are in there! I can't leave them!"

Ignoring the twinge in my chest I replied, "I know. But there's nothing you can do for them. They're dead."

The boy emitted a high pitch whine as he fell against me, his sobs uncontrollable. Picking him up, I began to walk away. Between the firefighters trying to extinguish the flames and the paramedics attending to the wounded, it wasn't hard to slip by unnoticed.

The boy's muffled cries began to subside, and by the time we reached my car he had fallen asleep. I opened the passenger door and carefully placed him on the seat. He didn't stir. I quietly shut his door and made my way to the driver seat.

With one last glance at the fiery spectacle, I turned the car on and drove away.

{*}

Once we were within the city limits, I took out my cell phone and pressed speed dial 1.

"Hello?" a familiar voice politely inquired.

"Alfred," I responded curtly.

"Oh, Master Bruce."

"I need you to prepare a spare bedroom. We have a guest." I glanced over the sleeping child and took note of the costume he still wore. "And we'll need some clothes. For a ten year old boy."

Alfred didn't question my odd demands. "Of course sir, right away. I assume you two will be here shortly?"

I hung up the phone without answering him. We arrived home about twenty minutes after the exchange I had with Alfred. As I parked the car, the boy began to rouse.

"W-where are we?" he asked sleepily.

"My house."

Alfred met us in the entryway, a pair of pajamas in one hand, and a cup in the other. He looked down at the boy kindly.

"And who might you be?"

The kid didn't respond, instead he looked around the room with guarded curiosity.

"This is Richard," I supplied.

"My name's Dick," the boy snapped, "My parents only call me Richard when I'm in trouble." Dick's eyes began to water, as if he suddenly realized that his parents were never coming back. Alfred eyed the boy sadly, somehow knowing what happened without being told.

"Why don't I show you where you're sleeping tonight? We'll get you into some nice comfy pajamas and then you can have some warm milk. Would you like that?"

Dick remained silent. Dejectedly, the boy moved away from me and toward Alfred. The older man handed the boy the pajamas, and wrapped a fatherly arm around the boy as led him upstairs. As they walked up the stairs, I sauntered over to the kitchen, where Alfred already had a cup of coffee. I sat down at the table and began to sip on the coffee pensively.

The sound of footsteps brought me out of my reverie.

"Is he asleep?"

Alfred sighed. "Yes, poor thing fell asleep as soon as he finished the milk."

There was a pause, as if Alfred were trying to decide how to ask his next question. Finally, the butler asked, "How did they die?"

"Circus act. Dick and his parents were known as the Flying Graysons. He and his dad had a routine earlier in the show that went off without a hitch. It was at the end, when his father and mother were both in the routine that the cable broke. They plummeted to their death."

"You think someone tampered with the cable?"

"I don't think. I know."

I was met with silence. I took the last sip of my coffee and stood up. "I have to do some research."

Alfred bowed his head. "Of course, sir."

{*}

By morning, I had my answers. I entered the kitchen to discover that Dick was already awake. The boy sat at the table, unenthusiastically eating his breakfast as Alfred fussed over him. The two turned their heads as I sat at the table.

"Good morning, sir." Alfred greeted, momentarily parting from Dick to serve me my coffee and breakfast.

"Alfred. Dick." I responded by way of salutation.

"What's going to happen to me?" Dick asked, ignoring my good morning.

Alfred tensed, quickly looking over at me before he resumed his task. I turned to the boy, taking in his appearance. He seemed calmer than last night, but it was obvious that he had been crying recently. His skin was ashen, and even though he slept last night, I could tell it was a restless sleep for him. After my quick assessment, I made my decision.

"You're parents' death was no accident. They were killed last night, Dick."

I heard Alfred drop a plate, the china breaking as it collided into the floor. But I ignored him, gauging Dick's response to my statement.

"W-what?" the kid responded, his blue eyes wide.

"Master Bruce I—"

"The cable breaking and the tent catching on fire were not coincidences." I continued, interrupting Alfred. "Someone intentionally sabotaged them and tried to destroy their business."

The boy began to tremble as the tears started to roll down his face. He ran a shaky hand through his jet-black hair as he asked, "B-but who would do that to my parents?"

"I know who it was, Dick."

"Tell me!" he demanded, his cheeks flushed with anger.

"You asked me what's going to happen to you now," I answered, denying him his demand, "It depends on what you want. Like I said, I know who killed your parents. And I can guarantee that I'm the only one who'll ever figure it out. Now, if you want to help me bring justice to your parents' deaths, you can live here with me and Alfred."

"Master Bruce he's just a ch—"

"I promise you I will make it my top priority to track them down and avenge your family. However, if you decide that you don't want anything to do with what happened, I will make sure you have a wonderful life with a pair of well-qualified and caring foster parents. So, it depends on what you want: do you want to right the wrong that was committed or do you want to move on and accept that you are powerless?"

"I want to help you," Dick responds quickly. I nodded, expecting as much from the boy.

"Follow me."

I led Dick to the grandfather clock. He eyed me strangely, but his suspicion turned into astonishment as I revealed what was behind the clock. We walked down the staircase, which led us into the inside of a great cave. Hundreds of bats flew overhead, but I paid no heed to them. I walked over to the grand computer system I had and sat down in the chair. Though having a computer inside of a cavern like structure was a normal concept for me, I could see Dick's confusion as he took in everything he saw.

"This is the Batcave. It is here that I research the going ons of Gotham city."

"I don't understand."

"I fight crime, Dick. I fight the guys that the police can't handle and help send them away."

"Why would you do that?"

"That is a story for later," I replied, ignoring the knot that formed in my stomach as I thought about how similar my story was to Dick's. About how much of myself I saw in him. After successfully burying my inner turmoil, I continued to speak.

"Since you have agreed to live here, I will train you. You will learn how to fight, sleuth, hack…everything I know you will know in time. But this is all for another day. The first thing you need to do is decide on a name."

"A name?"

"Yes. You must protect your identity, and having a codename will help."

"What's yours?"

I listened as the bats continued to fly overhead, none the wiser to what was going on below them. "I am known as Batman."

Dick remained silent for a moment. After several minutes, he finally spoke again.

"I wanna be called Robin."

"What made you decide on that name?"

"I was born on the first day of spring, so my mom always called me Robin."

Dick looked down at his feet sadly. I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I promise you we will bring your family's killers to justice."

The boy looked back up at me, his blue eyes somewhat lighter. He gave me a small smile as he said, "Okay."

Never would I have guessed that this day would be the beginning of my legacy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there's Legacy! What did you think? Let me know! I hope you all enjoyed it. I feel like I need to explain a few points:**

**Batman knew Robin's name was Richard because the ringleader introduced him as that. **

**I honestly don't really know the whole story of how Batman and Robin met. I had to look it up, so I apologize if it's inaccurate in any way.**

**Dick's eight here. I know Batman said ten, but I figured he wouldn't be able to know exactly how old he was, so he just estimated. **

**Anyways, I hope that clears things up! Let me know what you thought! Thank you!**


End file.
